Conclusion: Consonant and Vowel Sounds

For me it is amazing to learn Phonology, because generally when you learn English not much programs teach you this subject and I feel advantaged learning it, now I know the correct way to pronounce vowels and consonants, talking about consonants I can say that they are very simple to recognize and pronounce.But talking about vowel sound some of them are still difficult to recognize because the spelling are different from the sounds. And I really need more practice in that.

Here is an amazing link, from where you can see how to pronounce check it is really good.

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/english/frameset.html

Song Presentation

Song Presentation

This exercise complements the Song Presentation. It worked like a process. first I had to do the song transcription, by writing it, and then I made my presentation, by singing the song cut trying to pronounce correctly. I think that is easier to transcribe first what you are going to pronounce and then read it. In that way you don't make mistakes at the time of reading normal orthography.

Vowel Sounds

Vowel Sounds

First, to recognize vowel sounds we have to know that there are five ways to classify a vowel sound. That is called the vowel inventory. 

1. Tongue strength, this is the area where you place your tongue. And those places can be: front(as in /I /, middle (as in/ə/), back (as in /ɒ/).

2. Tongue position, this is the place where the sound is produced. That places can be: up(as in /iy/), middle(as in/ey/), low(as in /a/).

3. Shape of the lips, here you can notice how your lips are moved, this ways can be: spread( as in /ey/), neutral(as in /ə/), rounded(as in /ɔ:/)

4.Vowel quality, this means if the vowel sound has one symbol or two, if it has one symbol it is simple (as in /ɒ/), and if it has two symbols it is complex as in/u:/).

5. Vowel length, this means the duration of the pronunciation. This can be lengthened (as in /iy/) and

 unlengthened(as in /I/) .

Note: all vowels are voiced(have vibration)

http://www.antimoon.com/how/pronunc-soundsipa.htm

http://faculty.washington.edu/dillon/PhonResources/newstart.html

Song Transcription

Song Transcription

Here I have the example of the song transcription that I made. I liked to work on this because music is the thing that I enjoy the most and practice what I learn applying it in what I like its the perfect way for learning for me. I find easy to transcribe the consonant words into consonant phonemes because they are almost the same when you write them. Also the ones that are different in their writing are easy because then you notice that there are also differences in pronunciation.

Tongue Twisters

Tongue Twisters

I really enjoyed practicing tongue twisters, that helped me a lot in getting my pronunciation better. I think that tongue twisters are very helpful and are an important tool for our learning. Practicing them we can develop many of our skills. Also the ones that we develop the most are our pronunciation and speaking, then we can get better at hearing too because when we hear that someone else is telling a tongue twister we also practice the skill of listening. Furthermore, I think that tongue twisters are very entertaining to learn, because at the beginning you see your mistakes when repeating them, but then when you know them very well it feels good to know that you are speaking well.

Some years ago I listened and learned some tongue twisters, these are very popular in England.

These examples of tongue twisters are very easy to learn, and easy to pronounce.

-Red lorry, yellow lorry, red lorry, yellow lorry.

-I saw Susy sitting in a shoe shine shop

 where she sits she shines, where she shines she sits.

Here you can find more examples of lots of tongue twister in order to practice them.

http://www.zozanga.com/games/tongue-twisters.htm

http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/staff/kbowers/files/815AA4A7240E431B83D3D28F744701A3.pdf

http://usefulenglish.ru/writing/spelling-patterns-for-consonant-sounds

Consonant Sounds

Consonant Sounds

Sounds

 English has fewer consonant letters than spoken. English has 24 consonant sounds when in there are 21 consonant letters, so some letters represent more than one consonant sound, those are the ones that are combined. 

Consonants are easier than vowels referring to spelling. Most of the time a consonant sound is represented by the same consonant letter in writing: bed [bed], pin [pin], kind [kaind], take [teik], mark [ma:rk], false [fo:ls].

But there are several consonant sounds that are represented by different consonant letters or letter combinations in writing, for example, [k], [s], [g], [j], [f], [sh]. There are also consonant letters and letter combinations that have several variants of pronunciation. Find more information about this in the next webpage. http://usefulenglish.ru/writing/spelling-patterns-for-consonant-sounds http://usefulenglish.ru/phonetics/english-consonant-sounds True consonants or obstruents can then be classified taking into account manner of articulation features. Consonants have already been defined as sounds produced by obstructing the vocal tract while expelling the airstream from the lungs. The way in which this obstruction is achieved can be of different kinds. PLACE OF ARTICULATION  The gap between the vocal cords is used to make audible friction, e.g. /h/ Glottal The back of the tongue is used against the soft palate, e.g. /k/- / ŋ/ Velar The front of the tongue is raised close to the palate, e.g. /j/ Palatal The blade ( or tip) of the tongue is used just behind the alveolar ridge, e.g. / ʧ/-/ʤ/ Palato-alveolar The blade of the tongue is used close to the alveolar ridge, e.g. /t/- /s/. Alveolar The tongue tip is used either between the teeth or close to the upper teeth, e.g. / θ / ð/ Dental Using the lower lip and the upper teeth, e.g. /f/- /v/ Labio-dental Using closing movement of both lips, e.g. /p/ - /b/ Bilabial MANNER OF ARTICULATION  Vocal organs come near to each other, but no so close as to cause audible friction, e.g. /r/- /w/ APPROXIMANT A partial closure is made by the blade of the tongue against the alveolar ridge. Air is able to flow around the sides of the tongue, e.g. /l/ LATERAL A closure is made by the lips, or by the tongue against the palate, the soft palate is lowered, and air escapes through the nose, e.g. /m/- /n/ NASAL When two vocal organs come close enough together for the movement of air between them to be heard, e.g. /f/- /v/ FRICATIVE A complete closure is made in the mouth and the soft palate is raised. Air pressure increases behind the closure, and is released more slowly than the plosive, e.g. / tʃ/- /ʤ/ AFFRICATIVE A complete closure is made in the vocal tract and the soft palate is also raised. Air pressure increases behind the closure and is then released explosively, e.g. /p/ and /b/ PLOSIVE

Reflection: I really liked to learn about this, because in that way I realized that I was making many mistakes at the time of pronouncing some sounds such as: /d/ and /ð/ because I was used to pronounce them in the same way and I used to pronounce them as I do in Spanish because I didn't know about the differences. Finally I am paying attention to these sounds because sometimes I still make mistakes with them.